INTRAMUROS, Manila — After the government banned Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) on the expressed orders of President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr,., displaced Filipino workers affected by the ban are reportedly joining similar scam hubs in operating in other countries not only in Southeast Asia but as far as the Middle East.

This is according to Bureau of Immigration (BI) spokesperson Dan Sandoval, who disclosed that the 'exodus' of displaced POGO workers to overseas employment could be a result of thousands of vacancies that surge to all-time high since the December deadline set for POGOs to cease operations in the country.

Sandoval cited that they have received and continue to receive intelligence information about the attempts of POGO-like scam centers that have started similar activities outside of the region.

“These scam hubs are expanding their reach and are trying to open similar operations in other countries as far as the Middle East; that’s the information that we got. We are quite worried about this trend because it extends beyond the Philippines,” she said in a media briefing while adding that BI officials are now discussing the alarming trend with counterpart agencies of other Southeast Asian nations.

"Filipinos recruited to work in scam hubs are often bound for Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, but they usually pass through other countries first by posing as tourists in an attempt to evade detection," she described the modus used for recruitment by overseas scam hubs.

In recent weeks, the BI has intercepted several outbound Filipino travelers posing as tourists or officemates on vacation who turn out to have been recruited as workers in POGO-like scam hubs in the aforementioned countries.

Sandoval revealed that the scam hubs usually targeted young, well-educated Filipinos with backgrounds in business process outsourcing (BPO) companies to work in their fraudulent operations.

Apart from recruitment through social media networks like Facebook, the BI spokesperson said they also received information that scam hubs are also recruiting within BPOs here in the country.

“We received tips that some of those working in call centers and BPOs are in cahoots with scam hubs abroad. They are embedded inside BPOs and recruit employees to work in other countries,” she said.